▲ 36 ▼ Companies say they're closing in on nuclear fusion as an energy source. Will it work? (www.npr.org) submitted 2 years ago by NightGaunts@kbin.social to c/news@lemmy.world 37 comments fedilink hide all child comments For decades, government scientists have toiled away trying to make nuclear fusion work. Will commercial companies sprint to the finish?
[–] evatronic@lemm.ee 9 points 2 years ago (2 children) I'm constantly amazed that we're working on super advanced power generation techniques... that still use steam to spin turbines. It feels like we should be doing something cooler, like plasma conduits from Star Trek. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] QuinceDaPence@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago Just about the best way to do it for an external 'combustion' heat engine. Stirling engines can be used in some cases but in most cases steam ends up being the better option. We spent centuries getting really good at using steam for getting work out of 'hot thing'. permalink fedilink source parent [–] davidgro@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago Look into what Helion Energy is doing. Not saying it will or won't work, but they plan to extract the energy directly from the plasma electromagnetically. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] QuinceDaPence@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago Just about the best way to do it for an external 'combustion' heat engine. Stirling engines can be used in some cases but in most cases steam ends up being the better option. We spent centuries getting really good at using steam for getting work out of 'hot thing'. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago Look into what Helion Energy is doing. Not saying it will or won't work, but they plan to extract the energy directly from the plasma electromagnetically. permalink fedilink source parent